Tag Archives: Claymation

As a kid one of my favorite things about Christmas was the Christmas TV specials. Yes, the presents and the family gatherings were nice, but, for some reason, I loved the TV specials. “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “Frosty the Snowman,” “A Chipmunk Christmas,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” and so on were always eagerly anticipated. However, the one I remember enjoying most was “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration” (aka The California Raisins’ Christmas Special). I only saw it once and loved it. From time to time, it would pop into my head and would wonder about it, but I probably hadn’t thought about it in the last five years or so. Then earlier this week, I stumbled across a clip of the show. After watching the clip, I clicking on more of the clips until I watched the entire episode.

When finished, I was surprised at how I still enjoyed the episode. Sure, the claymation is spotty at times, there are some cheesy moments (the “We Three Kings” skit and ), and the music is dated, yet I still found it entertaining. I was most impressed with lack of airtime the California Raisins got. If you were alive during the mid to late 80’s, then I need not remind you how huge the California Raisins were. Despite this, they were relegated to sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and that’s it. And, in retrospect, that’s fine as it’s now my least favorite part (though as a kid, I was one of the millions who had a ton of Raisins crap).

Anyway, the dinosaurs hosts, Herb and Rex, are awesome, the bells from the “Carol of the Bells” are goofy, and the penguins and walruses are great. So just watch it already.